Helmut Marko turns spotlight on Guenther Steiner after ‘ridiculous’ Max Verstappen punishment

Helmut Marko is irate with the FIA for punishing Max Verstappen for using the F-word in a press conference, especially when one uses the Guenther Steiner “yardstick”.

Having sworn in a press conference just hours after FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem issued a clampdown on foul language, Verstappen will have to serve a day of community service as punishment.

Helmut Marko does not agree with Max Verstappen’s punishment for swearing

The reigning World Champion and the majority of his fellow F1 racers mocked the clampdown, joking during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend that they better not reveal their true feelings as they could join Verstappen on the naughty step.

Lewis Hamilton called it a “joke” while Lando Norris said it was “pretty unfair”.

As for Verstappen, the 26-year-old said things like this could be what drives him out of Formula 1.

“These kinds of things definitely decide my future as well when you can’t be yourself or deal with these silly things,” he said. “I’m at the stage of my career where you don’t want to be dealing with these things all the time.”

Marko has urged the FIA to heed the Dutchman’s warning, especially if one uses former Haas team boss Steiner and his notorious Netflix Drive to Survive F-bombs as the standard.

More on Max Verstappen’s swearing penalty

👉 The FIA’s hypocritical clampdown on swearing is exactly why the sport will lose Max Verstappen

👉 Max Verstappen mocks community service order with ‘FBI are watching’ quip

“The FIA ​​went in the wrong direction with the penalty for Max, who used an expletive in the press conference on Thursday that is heard so often in the racing world that it is practically part of everyday language,” he wrote in his Speedweek column. “In addition, he used the word to describe an object, i.e. a car, and not a person.

“I think that the yardstick is different when you look at what Guenther Steiner did, for example, without any consequences.

“The whole thing is clearly exaggerated and ridiculous, I think we have completely different concerns. But I thought Max’s reaction was very good, the way he made it clear in the press conference what he thought about it, within the permitted limits – in very brief words.

“It was argued that it happened in a press conference held in the afternoon. But you have to allow the emotions.

“Or if you’re so moralistic, you can just bleep out the relevant statements. In general, Formula 1 is an emotionally charged sport in which it is part of the culture that drivers express their emotions according to their temperament.

“As a team, we can’t do much about it, we can only hope that the sports authorities will see reason. You can’t take the joy out of the drivers’ work by having too many rules.

“Max needs the fun factor and the knowledge that the sport he does can also be done with joy. I myself am also a fan of the old English saying “let them race”.”

However, Steiner was quick to point out that while he did swear, he knew when not to.

“You have never heard me cursing in a press conference, or anything like this,” he told the Red Flag podcast.

But he does think the FIA maybe went too far, after all Verstappen “explained the situation about his car, not about a person.

“Is there other words he could have chosen? Yes, he could. He said that a terminology which is used a lot. Is it right? Maybe it isn’t right, but is it wrong? Maybe also not. I’m very much on the fence here.”

He added: “For me, it’s very similar to two years ago [with the crusade over] jewellery. We are in 2024. That is what I try to recognise. Somebody wearing an earring: could I care less?”

Read next: Carlos Sainz ‘smart’ F1 2025 Williams move analysed amid damning Audi F1 assessment